Move to 1/2 depth

[wayseer]

Just wondering what others might think here.

I find it difficult to lift the FD super that's full of honey - getting a mite old for that now.  The 1/2 D supers are fine - easy to handle and fit the extractor ( 2 instead on 1FD).  As a result I have a mix of FD and 1/2d supers which is problematic when it comes to lifting a brood of frame from the FD brood super and limited by 1/2D supers on top. 

My though is to go to 1/2D for all supers using two 1/2D for the brood chamber followed by a queen excluder before more 1/2D supers for honey.

I accept that such a move is not cost effective but apart from that aspect there seems to be other benefits, besides a relieved back.

Just wondering if any have made such a choice and might have some valued insights.

[CBEE]

There are a lot of beeks here that use all med supers for brood and honey due to weight and parts interchange ease. Some even use 8 frame boxes instead of 10.
So you are not alone :-D

[annette]

I use only mediums for everything and the bees are doing fine.

[Brian D. Bray]

If using all mediums you might want to consider 3 mediums as your brood chamber and overwinter size.  3 mediums equals 2 deeps.

[wayseer]

Thanks for the info.  I thought as much but often it's good to check.

I'm not sure what you mean by medium.  We have 1/2 D which is 1/2 the depth of a FD and WSP which I guess is medium in your parlance.

I can't think why double 1/2D should not work as a brood chamber.  Thanks.

[Michael Bush]

I imagine that a 1/2 depth would work, but mediums seem to be a better compromise.  We call that an "extra shallow".  It would be 4 11/16".  But that leaves a very small area of comb up and down.  The frames are 4 7/16" or so.  The actual comb is only about 3 7/16" or so high.

I run all eight frame mediums.  (6 5/8" deep boxes), which weigh, full of honey, about 45 to 48 pounds.